TMC clean sweeps West Bengal assembly by-election, wins all three seats

The counting of votes for the by-elections held in three assembly seats in West Bengal- Kaliaganj (SC), Karimpur and Kharagpur Sadar will begin at 8 am on Thursday and the final results will be out by 5 pm. The by-polls are stated to be a litmus test for the ruling TMC and BJP in West Bengal ahead of 2021 state elections. Over 7.34 lakh eligible voters were entitled to vote in 801 polling stations to choose their representatives from among 18 candidates, including three women.

The counting of votes for the by-elections held in three assembly seats in West Bengal- Kaliaganj (SC), Karimpur and Kharagpur Sadar began at 8 am on Thursday and the final results will be out by 5 pm. As per the initial trend, the Trinamool Congress has won all three seats. The by-polls are stated to be a litmus test for the ruling TMC and BJP in West Bengal ahead of 2021 state elections. Over 7.34 lakh eligible voters were entitled to vote in 801 polling stations to choose their representatives from among 18 candidates, including three women.

The by-polls, held on November 25, in three constituencies of Kaliaganj, Karimpur and Kharagpur Sadar seats witnessed voting percentage of 77.17%, 81.23%, and 67.62% respectively, according to Election Commission. It said, "The average voting percentage was 75.48 per cent." Notably, the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition BJP are contesting all the seats.

Here are the live updates:

28 November 2019

15:58 IST

TMC clean sweeps West Bengal assembly by-election; Bimalendu Singha Roy of TMC wins by 24,130 votes in Karimpur.

14:00 IST

West Bengal CM and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee have termed this win as a victory of the people. She said, "People have rejected the arrogance of BJP."

#BengalWithDidi @MamataOfficial reacts on big 3-0 #BengalBypolls win pic.twitter.com/X0wGSkkYA5

— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) November 28, 2019

13:25 IST

In Kharagpur Sadar, TMC's Pradip Sarkar wins by 20,811 votes. Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh is an MP from this area.

12:56 IST

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on TMC winning one and currently leading on rest of the 2 seats in the by-elections says, "This is a victory of people. This is a victory of development. Politic of arrogance will not work. People have rejected the BJP."

12:31 IST

In Kaliaganj, TMC's Tapan Deb Singha won by a margin of 2,304 votes.

12:09 IST

In Kharagpur Sadar, TMC's PRADIP SARKAR is leading by a margin of 16,455 votes.

12:08 IST

In Karimpur, TMC's BIMALENDU SINHA ROY is leading by a margin of 28,202 votes.

12:08 IST

In Kaliaganj, TMC's Tapan Deb Singha is leading by a margin of 3,303 votes.

12:08 IST

The TMC is leading in all three seats.

10:39 IST

In Karimpur, BIMALENDU SINHA ROY of TMC is leading by 20,251 votes and BJP's JAY PRAKASH MAJUMDAR by 5329 votes.

09:56 IST

In Kharagpur Sadar, PRADIP SARKAR of the TMC is leading by 23,006 votes and BJP's PREM CHANDRA JHA is trailing by 16,965 votes.

09:56 IST

In Kaliaganj, Kamal Chandra Sarkar of the BJP is leading by 10347 votes and Tapan Deb Singha of the TMC is trailing by 8728 votes.

09:27 IST

In Karimpur, BIMALENDU SINHA ROY of TMC is leading by 8406 votes and JAY PRAKASH MAJUMDAR of the BJP  is trailing by 3763 votes. Earlier, Majumdar was kicked by TMC goons.

09:18 IST

In Kharagpur Sadar, PREM CHANDRA JHA of the BJP is leading by 11698 votes and PRADIP SARKAR of TMC is trailing by 10106 votes.

08:02 IST

The counting of votes begins.

07:58 IST

The counting of votes will start shortly at 8 am.

07:56 IST

In Karimpur (Nadia district), the TMC and the BJP were engaged in a no holds barred fight. BJP candidate Jay Prakash Majumdar, the party`s state Vice President and a familiar face in television debates, faced strong resistance from the Trinamool cadres. Majumdar`s rival and Trinamool candidate Bimalendu Sinha Roy also courted controversy after he was found to have entered a booth with the party symbol displayed on his dress.

07:56 IST

At Kaliaganj in North Dinajpur district, a presiding officer was removed after the Trinamool Congress lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against BJP candidate Kamal Chandra Sarkar for breaking rules by showing his wife the EVM button she needed to press.

07:55 IST

In Kharagpur Sadar`s booth number 140, the BJP agent complained that the EVM was strategically placed beside a mirrored wall. The wall was later covered with a cloth by the election officials.

07:55 IST

The by-polls in Kharagpur Sadar and Karimpur were necessitated after sitting MLAs -- Dilip Ghosh and Mahua Moitra -- were elected to the Lok Sabha, while the by-poll in Kaliaganj happened due to the death of Congress MLA Pramath Nath Roy.